Fires and other disasters are an everyday risk for millions of individuals who live or work on elevated floors of buildings. Frequently, children, elderly individuals, pets, and other at-risk groups are unable to reach safety on their own, especially where traditional escape routes, such as stairways, are obstructed. Therefore, several devices have been created to assist individuals exiting a building via windows. Frequently, these devices are anchored to a portion of the building, either inside or outside the window an individual is to be lowered out of, and include a receptacle or sling for receiving the body of an individual. Examples of escape and child safety devices can be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,880,671, 285,564, 6,029,771, 6,966,407, 3,871,480, 6,095,613, and 6,672,428, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0132495, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.